Tapestry of Time
by SplendentGoddess
Summary: As the threads of life are spooled and woven, the tapestry of time takes shape. When someone's thread is cut, that person dies. But what of the threads that are pulled loose, only to be woven again? Time is an intricate tapestry, indeed.


Blanket Disclaimer:

Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.

A/N:

This story was written in present-tense. Though it's not usually my preference, past-tense wouldn't really have worked for exploring the non-linear aspects of time. Rated for language.

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~ Tapestry of Time ~

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"Finally, it is time." an old hermit says to himself as he exits his mountain home, gazing over his shoulder at the hut behind him with a look of disdain. He has no desire to return to his life of solitude. Perhaps, if the Fates see fit, he can finally rest in peace.

Wrapping his cloak about himself, he prepares for the long journey.

_**Five hundred years earlier…**_

"We did it!" Kagome shouts joyously, punching the air, her youth permitting the future-born miko to outwardly express the satisfaction her companions are also feeling. Naraku has been defeated, the sacred jewel purified along with him.

"Keh, 'bout damn time." Inuyasha acknowledges with an affirmative nod.

"I had no doubt we would be victorious, though I must say, to have finally reached the conclusion of our quest brings great relief to my heart." Miroku chimes in, passing a glance in Sango's direction. "Though that is not the only emotion my heart is currently feeling." he adds.

"Houshi-sama…" Sango murmurs softly, on the verge of tears, though they are tears of joy.

Kohaku's life has been spared, Kikyou's soul is at peace, the kazaana is gone, and finally, everything once again feels right with the world. That night, a feast is held in the village in honor of the inu-tachi's group effort to rid their world of the villain that was Naraku. Everyone is in attendance, and even Inuyasha seems to be enjoying himself, though the tranquil atmosphere does not provide distraction for long for the troubled inu-hanyou. With their mission over, what is to keep Kagome from leaving their world? From leaving him? Sure, he can always ask her to stay with him, as the others have repeatedly suggested that he should, but if she doesn't want to stay on her own, he isn't going to force her to make such a decision. She had never asked him to choose between herself and Kikyou, and now, he will not ask her to choose between himself and the very world she's always known. A world he can never be a part of. Perhaps, if he is lucky, she will continue to visit on occasion. Though as that thought occurs to him, he finds himself wondering if he will be able to accept the knowledge that she has another life that does not include him in it. That she takes time out away from her _real _life in order to visit a memory, as though to do so is just as much an obligation as the mission itself had been. Can he stand to watch her grow old, without his bonding to make her age as he does? Will he be able to stomach the smell of other men on her, as she dates? As she finds love? As she has children?

"Fuck that." he grumbles to himself, the spiraling direction of his darkest fears blinding him to the love in Kagome's eyes as she steps outside to greet him, knowing she will find him at the Goshinboku.

"Inuyasha, there you are." Kagome states with a twinkle in her eyes.

"What the fuck do _you _want?" he asks her harshly, leaping down from his branch to glare in her direction with disdain.

_It's better to break clean than constantly face the reminder of what I can't have_…

Taken aback, Kagome stares unblinkingly in Inuyasha's direction, shock and hurt in her gaze.

"Inuyasha…? I just…I just wanted to see how you were feeling. You left the party so early."

"Maybe I wanted to be by myself. That thought never enter your puny excuse of a brain?"

Mentally cringing even as the words leave his lips, Inuyasha outwardly squares his shoulders and stands his ground. He can recognize the hurt in her eyes now, though he's not surprised by it.

"Oh what, you gonna cry now? Go on home then and cry to Mama, ya weakling. Now that the jewel's gone, what good are you around here anyway? I only needed you for sensing the shards. Just _go! _You'll never be as good as Kikyou!"

Knowing exactly what to say to cut her to the very bone, Inuyasha is not surprised when Kagome immediately spins around on her heels, the glisten of tears sparkling in her wake as she flees to the well. He is surprised, however, when she stops for just a moment at the well's edge, and looking back his way, shouts, "I loved you, you asshole! I would have stayed here with you! But go ahead and be alone for the rest of your life! Goodbye!"

Standing in stunned silence, it takes the hanyou a few seconds to realize just how colossal of a mistake he's really made. Rushing to the well, he's fully prepared to say or do whatever she demands of him to apologize, to explain, to make it up to her. Leaping into the time portal, he's _not_ prepared for the thud of earth that greets his feet when the blue lights of time do not engulf him.

_**Five hundred years later…**_

Climbing a rope ladder is hard to do with tears blurring one's vision, but Kagome manages it as she reaches the lip of the well in her time, swinging one leg over before the other. In her anger, she turns to glare hatefully at the well as though it itself were responsible for breaking her heart, and then placing her hands on the wood, she says, "That stupid Inuyasha, I hope he _never _comes through the well _ever again!"_

"So, that's how you did it." a male voice observes, causing Kagome to whip around with her hand on her heart, a loud gasp escaping her lips.

A cloaked man is looking down at her from the doorway to the well-house, though she cannot make out much more than his shape in the darkness, the moonlight from behind him casting his features in pure shadow.

"Who…who are you? How did you get here?"

"I think you know who I am, Kagome. And in answer to your second question, I had to take the long way around, thanks to the seal you just placed on the well."

_It…it can't be… Can it?_

Approaching hesitantly, Kagome is mildly relieved when the man backs enough away from the well-house entrance as she approaches so that she can exit the small building without feeling as though her personal space is too crowded. Turning so that her own back is to the moonlight, a second gasp escapes her at the sight now illuminated before her.

"Inuyasha…? Is that…is that really you?"

"What's left of me." the elderly hermit replies.

Taking in the sight before her, Kagome cannot believe her eyes. He is definitely her hanyou, there is no doubt in her mind, yet…he cannot _possibly_ be the same man she just yelled at back in the past. This Inuyasha before her, he's aged, tremendously. He looks older than her grandfather, and none too healthy. But as she studies him further, she knows there is simply no mistaking those golden eyes, or those wisps of silvery white hair that are peaking out from around the hood of his cloak, much too stark to have ever contained any black. Bravely stepping forward, her heart pounds in her chest as she raises shaky hands to lower said hood, exposing tired looking canine ears with floppy tips and thinning patches of fur.

"What…what happened to you?"

Raising a gray eyebrow at her, he replies, "Five hundred years happened to me. What'd you expect?"

"But…youkai do not age." she whispers in confusion. The miko is clearly in shock, not that he can blame her.

Eyes softening a small amount, he reminds her quietly, "But I'm hanyou, Kagome."

Her eyes widen in realization then, though she remains silent, her mind still trying to catch up. He continues.

"Even most youkai will eventually grow older, to some degree, but being half human…well…Myouga hadn't even thought I'd live _this _long."

That captures her attention enough to find her voice, barely.

"Why are you here?" she chokes out.

Her tone is not accusing. In fact, an uncomfortable feeling has already begun bubbling up inside her stomach, telling her that she knows _exactly _why he's there.

"I had to see you again," he tells her. "My entire purpose in life was to make it to this moment, to see you, as you exited the well this final time."

She feels horrible at those words, cringing at the visible pain in his swirling pools of amber.

"To tell me what a mistake I've made?" she asks forlornly as a second round of tears swell in her eyes.

To her surprise and mild confusion, he shakes his head in the negative.

"To tell you what a mistake _I _made." he confesses quietly.

Reaching forward to capture her hands in his aged, wrinkled ones, a ghost of a smile flickers across his lips when she does not pull away or even flinch at his touch.

"Kagome, I remember with perfect clarity the _lies _my younger-self just told you, but that's all that they were, _lies_. The truth is, I love you. I've always loved you, and right now on the other side of that time portal, my past-self is digging up the bottom of the well, crying and cursing and begging the kami to let him pass through to you. He will not be successful."

The gathering tears fall at his words, and he raises a leathery finger to her cheek, gently wiping them away.

"Why…?" she asks him quietly, a whisper too soft for a human man to have heard. He knows what she's asking. Why did he send her away…

"I thought I was doing what was best, for the both of us. I didn't know you would've really been willing to stay with me in my time. I didn't know that until you shouted it to me seconds before dropping out of my life. I _had_ thought that you would still continue to visit my world, but I'd decided that I couldn't be happy only seeing occasional glimpses of you. I figured you would eventually move on with your life, find a husband, have children; you would visit me less and less. I didn't want to be constantly reminded of what I'd lost, of what I'd thought was never mine to begin with, and so I'd thought that cutting ties with you once and for all would be better in the long run. I thought that making you hate me would be for the best, for your sake, so that you could move on cleanly and not have any regrets about leaving me behind, and I could've been happy at least in knowing that you would have a happy life, even if it wasn't with me. It probably would've worked, too, had you not said all that stuff to me right before leaving. Hearing you say you would've stayed with me…I snapped. I would have immediately done absolutely _anything _to take back all of the hurtful things I'd said just to make you leave. The truth is, I wanted you in my life more than life itself. I was just bitter because I thought I couldn't have you how I really wanted you."

"Oh Inuyasha… I'm so sorry. So, so sorry…"

In typical Kagome fashion, the miko immediately forgets about all the hurt his words have caused her, knowing now, realizing, just how much pain his words have also caused himself. It doesn't even occur to her to be angry with him for breaking her heart yet again, this time with pity over the plight he had been forced to endure for the last five centuries. One could argue that he should have just left well enough alone. That he should have let her hate him, as had been his original intention. But now, in this moment, as he's confessing these things to her, all Kagome can ask is, "Is there anything I can possibly do to make it up to you?"

"Yes." he answers her immediately, the finality of his voice causing her to do a double-take.

"Go back to him." he tells her, and it takes Kagome a moment to realize just what he's actually asking of her.

"But…I can't do that, can I?" she asks with uncertainty. "Won't that mess up the timeline?"

"Screw the timeline." is his answer, and she can tell he means it.

"But…what about you? If I go back and alter history, will you even still exist? Will you live on in a parallel timeline or will you flicker out into nothingness?"

"I don't know and I don't care. It's too late for me. I'm dying, Kagome, not in the body, but in my heart. This single moment in time was the only thing that drove me forward, or I would have killed myself centuries ago. Go back to him, please. He doesn't deserve to suffer as I have. There's still a chance to make this right. Let me see you jump down that well, and you can know that whatever may have become of me through the sands of time, I died a happy man, knowing my mistake has been undone."

"Oh kami…" Kagome whispers, new tears streaming down her face.

Cupping her cheeks with both hands, Inuyasha gently wipes her tears away with his thumbs, surprise shining in his eyes when Kagome's hands suddenly reach up to meet his own, holding his palms to her face. Leaning forward, on her tiptoes, Kagome places a gentle, chaste kiss on Inuyasha's thin lips, smiling a little at his stunned expression as she pulls away.

"I will never forget you." she tells him softly, before pulling away from his embrace.

Wrinkled eyes smile as they watch her turn around before reentering the well-house. Following after a moment to observe from the doorway, Inuyasha feels the ache in his heart ease up tremendously as she sits down on the edge of the well, glancing back in his direction.

"That boy loves you, Kagome, I promise. Just give him a chance to prove it."

"He already has." she answers before swinging her legs over the edge of the well, the blue lights of time immediately sparking to life as she drops down into its depths, the last image of Inuyasha's shadowed form observing her from the well-house doorway forever engraved in her memory.

As Kagome rematerializes five hundred years in the past, she is immediately met with a heart wrenching sight. He had not been exaggerating. Inuyasha…young Inuyasha…is in the bottom of the well, his hands covered in dirt as he pounds the disturbed soil floor with a clinched fist, tear tracks clearly visible on his cheeks even in the low lighting of the moon. He immediately darts his eyes in her direction upon realizing he's no longer alone, and Kagome has only one second to brace for impact before she finds herself tackled by him, engulfed in his embrace as he promises over and over again that he didn't mean what he said and how he never wants her to leave him ever again. It doesn't even occur to Inuyasha to ask what made Kagome decide to return, though as soon as the hanyou calms down enough to let her speak, she tells him. She tells him everything.

Learning of his own elderly-self that had been forced to live throughout the five centuries to Kagome's time in solitude, Inuyasha shudders before pulling her into him for a quick kiss. He can smell traces of himself on her lips and cheeks, though even if she and his elderly counterpart had not made physical contact he would still believe her story to be true. It simply isn't within Kagome's abilities to make up a story like that; she is much too honest.

Scooping the miko up into his arms, Inuyasha leaps out of the well, and then instead of immediately putting her down, he tightens his grip on her, making a dash for the Goshinboku. They spend the rest of the night talking about their feelings and their future. Kagome doesn't know if she can undo the seal she accidentally placed on the well that now prevents Inuyasha from traveling with her to her time, but she will most certainly try. Regardless, she will be staying primarily in the past, with him, as his wife. Going 'home' through the well will become visiting her family on occasion, and nothing more. When Inuyasha explains the youkai concept of mate-bonding, Kagome is thrilled to learn that Inuyasha will not still be forced to live out over four hundred years in solitude after her eventual death, and immediately agrees to participate in the bonding. On the one hand, it will be hard for her to have to watch their friends grow older while she remains the same, but on the other hand, knowing how difficult she feels that will be for her, she can never, _ever _in good conscience force Inuyasha to endure that same fate with regard to herself. Besides, Kagome is bound and determined to make it back to her time the 'long way around', regardless of how often she'll continue to use the well over the immediate next few decades.

Rejoining the night's celebrations after Inuyasha takes a moment to compose himself, cleaning the dirt from his hands and out from under his claws, it is with a pair of enormous smiles that they return to their friends, hand in hand. There is much to celebrate now, not just the defeat of Naraku.

_**Five hundred years later…**_

Climbing a rope ladder is hard to do with tears blurring one's vision, but Kagome manages it as she reaches the lip of the well in her time, swinging one leg over before the other. In her anger, she turns to glare hatefully at the well as though it itself were responsible for breaking her heart, and then placing her hands on the wood, she says, "That stupid Inuyasha, I hope he _never _comes through the well _ever again!"_

"Oh, now don't be so hard on him." a female voice states from behind, causing Kagome to whip around with her hand on her heart, a loud gasp escaping her lips.

A man and woman are both gazing down at her from the doorway to the well-house, though she cannot make out much more than their shapes in the darkness, the moonlight from behind casting their features in pure shadow.

"Who…who are you? How did you get here?"

And so it was that Kagome explained to her younger-self, with her elderly mate standing proudly beside her, what she herself had experienced upon climbing up out of the well that night. Though the cycle seems to have started with her, it is a ritual now that can never be broken. Time has looped back in on itself in a most peculiar way, but as the elderly Inuyasha and Kagome watch with smiling eyes, hand in hand, as the young miko swings her legs back over the edge of the well, they know that never again will any Inuyasha be made to suffer for his mistake.

_~ Fin ~_


End file.
